Tate Boys Tire & Service was honored as the 2018 Tire Review Top Shop at the 2018 TIA Tire Industry Honors event, held at the Paris Las Vegas hotel.
Tate Boys, a seven-location independent tire dealership based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, is owned by partners Craig Tate and Marty Schoenthaler and was a Top Shop Finalist in 2011 before securing the honor as the winner this year.
Tate received the award from Tire Review Editor Patti Hoying, and was honored along with Modern Tire Dealer Tire Dealer of the Year John Quirk of VIP Tires & Service of Watertown, MA, Tire Business Humanitarian Award Winner Mark Smith of Midas in Richmond, VA, 2018 TIA Hall of Fame honorees Bob Majewski and Arvind Poddar, and 2018 Ed Wagner Leadership award recipients Mike Baggett and Freda Pratt-Boyer.
Addressing the assembled members of the tire community, Tate expressed his respect for fellow Top Shop finalists Tire Source, Eagle Tire Pros and Courtesy Auto Service of Tacoma, and his appreciation for the employees that keep the business strong.
“We keep it very simple and we work hard and we know that our team—and we call them teammates— are really the lifeblood of our business,” Tate said.
He also expressed the importance of his brother and co-owner Chuck Tate, who passed away last year. He told the story of Chuck’s tenacity in working his way from being cut from the baseball team in high school to being a scholarship athlete at Oklahoma State University, and later a professional baseball player, which was driven by his unwavering hard work and determination. That spirit lives on in the business and has helped make it into a Top Shop.
“That type of stuff is what’s rooted in our DNA, which is working together as a team and hard work,” Craig Tate said. “At the end of the day, if you make a decision, even if it’s the wrong decision, you can always make it right through hard work.”
Tire Review’s Top Shop contest evaluates dealers of all sizes, honoring independent tire dealers that best display the key attributes and values of a highly successful tire business: customer service and retention, training and education, merchandising and promotion, professional standards and conduct, appearance, solid business management, community involvement, business growth, achievement and innovation.
Coats has served as the presenting sponsor of the program since its inception in 2006. Winners and finalists receive prizes of cash, new Coats equipment and the recognition that being a Top Shop deserves.
